Director John Woo is planning his first Chinese-language film for more than a decade.

Variety reports that the Mission Impossible 2 and Face/Off director will be reunited with the star of his 1992 movie Hard Boiled, Chow Yun Fat, who has been offered the leading role.

The War of the Red Cliff, will be based on events 1,700 years ago, with plans to make it the most expensive film in mainland Chinese history.

The story is part of a hugely successful Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by Luo Guanzhong. Written in the 15th Century, it has 120 chapters and tells the epic story of the Han Dynasty.

It is expected to have a budget of around $36m, more than Zhang Yimou's $30m film Hero, which is due to be released in American cinemas this weekend.

Production will not begin until 2006, but the deal was apparently negotiated earlier this month.

(CCTV.com August 18, 2004)